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I am honored to have been selected, as a UN Women UK delegate to the Commission on the Status of women.

However, I am learning a lot about women’s issues.

Global crises from COVID-19 to conflict, climate change and a backlash against women’s sexual and reproductive rights are worsening gender disparities.

A recent UN report cites that without investment, gender equality will take nearly 300 years. It will take 286 years to close gaps in legal protection and remove discriminatory laws. 140 years for women to achieve equal representation in leadership positions in the workplace and 40 years for the same to happen in parliaments.

Meanwhile, to eradicate child marriage by 2030, progress will have to be 17 times faster than in the last decade. By the end of 2023, roughly 383 million women and girls will live in extreme poverty.

As a woman and a mother and a creative worker, I am proud of the work I am doing even if it sometimes feels no one is listening. Money is important but so are the stories we tell and until more creative women are telling more stories, and their stories are heard, this sad, tragic story will not end.

#beinghuman #unwomen #leadership